Just days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger revamped the state utility commission, the agency may be ready to overturn a landmark set of rules designed to protect telephone customers, including cell phone users.

The California Public Utilities Commission plans to vote next week on whether to suspend the telecommunications "bill of rights," which could set the stage for the commission to later repeal the rules altogether.

The move, led by Commissioner Susan Kennedy, outraged consumer advocates and some public officials, who complained that the PUC has not scheduled any hearings to delve into the issue before next week's vote.

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"It's an outrageous abuse of the process," said former Commissioner Carl Wood, a key supporter of the rules, whose term expired Friday. "This would represent the commission taking away rights from California consumers without any process, without any hearings and without any notice."

The rules, approved in May on a 3-2 vote, contain a host of rules to help consumers, including forcing phone companies to more clearly disclose their rates. In addition, it allows customers up to 30 days to cancel a cell phone contract without being charged hundreds of dollars in early termination fees.

The PUC adopted the rules, which Wood originally proposed in 2000, after receiving thousands of complaints from frustrated telephone customers and holding a series of hearings.

But the rules could be in jeopardy after Schwarzenegger replaced two of the commissioners who supported the rules, Wood and Commissioner Loretta Lynch, when their terms expired Friday. Schwarzenegger's replacements, moderate Republican Steve Poizner and Democrat Dian Grueneich, did not return calls seeking comment.

Kennedy placed an item on the Jan. 13 agenda to suspend the PUC rules, apparently a sign that she believes one of the appointees will help her overturn the measure.

PUC President Michael Peevey also opposed the rules last year, but Peevey and Kennedy cannot reverse the decision without help from one of the two new commissioners. Kennedy and her staff did not return calls seeking comment, but the proposal is listed on the agenda for next week's meeting.

Some consumer advocates said it's uncertain whether either Poizner or Grueneich will help Kennedy overturn the rules. They are not scheduled to be sworn into office until Tuesday, and haven't made any public statements on the issue.

"It's still too early to say," said Christine Mailloux, a lawyer with The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco consumer group. "These are new commissioners coming in with a clean slate."

A majority of PUC members could also decide later to postpone the vote or hold hearings on the measure.

The only other member of the PUC, Geoffrey Brown, said he was upset by Kennedy's effort to overturn the rules next week. "It's just being rammed through without any hearings," he said.

Without the bill of rights, Brown warned, wireless companies could easily take advantage of consumers, who won't have anywhere to turn for help. Wireless carriers previously faced scant regulation.

"What will happen is that our supervision over the marketplace will be totally emasculated," he said. "Once you take the badge away from the policeman, the town becomes an open city."

Opponents, however, argue that wireless companies already face intense competition from other carriers, forcing them to treat customers well.

Schwarzenegger also warned last year that the bill of rights could hurt the fast-growing wireless industry and prompt carriers to shift jobs to other states.

Both Wood and Brown said they have not seen any evidence from the wireless industry that they have suffered because of the new rules. Still, only some of the rules have gone into effect so far. The PUC gave carriers until this summer to implement some of the provisions. And the PUC recently granted partial extensions to 50 phone companies.

An industry representative pointed out that the wireless industry has already adopted its own, voluntary code of conduct. And he said there could be confusion if every state adopts its own regulations.

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